The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1887-04-22

LcusvilIe Courier Journal
! A gentleman who addressed the busi.
ness mass meeting q the Board Of Trade
Yesterday said: "The day when cotton
was king Is past" This sentiment Il
heard On every side. Il IL = terrible
blunder 10 view Of cotton'e undisputed
Iempiro In the worlds commerce and In
|dustry, but also, In view of our nneQmaled
possessions in thai empire, the public
|errors on the sabject are lamentable
They may do incalculable harm.
Cotton is king in al the Chrisfisn na-
tions OF tho earth except, shame n the
confession! except in The land which be
has done most 10 enrich except the
land upon which he has fruitlessIy Law
ished and wasted the richest opportuni-
ties Of aIl the earth.
Look at the contributions made by
each producing nation Of the earth to
Europe The imports In 1886, for exam-
pie, into all tho nations OF Europe
amounted 10 6,5l8,00O bales, and OF these
the United States alone furnished 4,4i7.-
$40 bales. This proportion IL somew hat
below the average, ss for insance, in the
first six months Of the current year the
United states has sent Europe 619. 900
o. the year OF our comparison.
No other monarch has ever been kept
ont Of HE rights in the country Of his
preferred stronghold 90 greatly to the
injury and undoing Of his unworthy
chosen people,
A law Of the land renders Il necessary
either TO ship more than two-thirds Of
tho Southern cotton 10 the raw state or
70 let Il rot While that Law stands
there is no alternative.
England takes 400. 900 900 pounds or
raw cotton, and, making II the medium
for employing her artisans In working Il
al up. she sells It for e42O, 900. 1000. She
pays fOr Il less than half that sum. and
Thus she makes el96. 6.00OOO0 worth !of
foreign cotton The vehicle Tor conveying
the other 1924. 900 600 OF her domestic
labor and capital 10 al the markets Of
the world.
Now see! with the view OF .protect.
ing American labor O. the Tariff Belial
whispers. that same American labor Is
sternly debarred from mingling its value
with The value Of the cotton, and SO the
cotton goes forth raw, and the labor re-
mains at home unsold with its unused
usnfruct barren, sucking its thumbs in
impecunious idleness.
But the Tariff Belial whispers some
more. This time IL tells Us: "But
American artisan labor must not de-
grade itself 10 Z level with American
farm labor by working cheaply and pro-
ducing 50 cheaply a. 70 compete with
other nations" The farm labor can
work cheaply enough 10 compete with
the world in cotton, grain. mesi. and
scores Of other things. hut. fprsoofh. the
American artisan labor. ~ the Belial or
me tariff principle sw cars, must not 80
scmean and degrade itself.
The nature of This talk - crnshingIv
exposed 10 onr example. The legal bar
'ters and the industrial adjustments
which spring therefrom rob American
Irtisan labor and capital in this single
product 0f an opporsunifv 10 earn aud
i'd 70 its income t275.OOO. .OO0 a year
rom cotton alone. IL IL thus hist the
oater-father Of American artisan labor
md capital protects them by keeping
hem from earning too much money.
The whole wasta4e and wrecksge in
'ur system arises from : preference Of
he Money Devil 70 make big incomes
Or the few and to sacrifice the interests I,
e the many. And vet. while the many !
ave votes, they allow the deviltry to
'roceed with ito obverpe and devious :
Processes ofaggrandizing the email class
. BE right and despoiling the millions
o his LEFT.